How do you meet your protein goal on a calorie deficit?

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Last Friday I said I’d have more to share about the magazine photo shoot. I do, but I’d decided to talk about protein today. My inbox has been flooded with questions about my strategy for fat loss and how to get enough protein.

My strategy for fat loss is simply finding a sustainable calorie deficit and attempting to reduce stress. Stress is actually unavoidable sometimes, so some of my recent articles are about stress eating and recovering from stress eating.

I’ve had a lot of stress lately, some of it really great and exciting, but it’s still stress. Stress makes it very hard to stay in control of eating so my strategy is to simply get on track as soon as the major stress subsides. All we can do is our best and motor on, a sort of controlled stumble forward as John would say.

The only way to make up for over eating is some calorie deficit days. Usually it can’t be paid for in one day so fasting is not always the answer. The deeper the deficit the more stress on your body, and the last thing you need when you are recovering from stress is MORE stress. Nice and easy and slow does it. Give yourself weeks.

What protein should you eat?

You can select whatever type of protein you want depending on your eating style. The key for getting enough protein while on a deficit is to select foods with the highest protein per calorie ratio.

I put together some charts of various protein sources showing how many protein grams per calories:

Protein and Calories for Meat, Fish, Poultry, and Dairy.

Common protein supplements.

Some Vegan and Vegetarian items (Vegans don’t eat eggs or dairy).

Vegans will get most of their protein from a total sum of the day in plant based foods. Here are some Vegan example meal plans with the focus on protein.

An example of a deficit day for me:

I usually start the day with protein and vegetables.

My first meal is usually protein and veggies. This was the first meal for me last Thursday.

Later I decided to have protein waffles.

A few hours after that I had lunch meat, more veggies, and an apple. Right before dinner I decided I wanted popcorn with coconut oil, so I kept my dinner light; Soup with more protein and veggies. Before dinner I’d consumed 100 grams of protein for the day so I reduced the amount of turkey in my soup compared to normal to make room for the popcorn.

Soup, more protein and veggies.

I planned ahead so I could have my popcorn!

I usually easily get in 100-125 grams of protein most days. For me this is a perfect deficit day. I can’t go lower than 1300 calories and feel okay, in fact some days when I workout hard I can’t go below 1400 or 1500. I have to pay attention to how I feel.

I feel best with this amount of protein. I had to find ways to make the egg whites and protein powder work for me. I’m not a fan of drinking my food so I make protein pancakes, waffles, and custards.

Every day is different for me, but I always get the protein in.

Friday was a little different pattern, I had soup with rice in my first meal:

Friday’s first meal of the day.

I had my carbs earlier in the day.

Today I ended with protein instead of carbs

So Friday was totally different compared to Thursday. I ended the day with more of a protein meal and my overall protein was 108 grams, but the calorie total was the same. It’s still a deficit for me.

Some people might think that is too low for me, but overall for the week it works out because I had some high days too. In fact I’ve had a lot of high days in the last few months, so a few more deficit days will be needed for me when I can fit them in.

MyFitnessPal gives a nice weekly report.

Even though I don’t do the math for weekly calories I keep an eye on the daily average. MyFitnessPal has a weekly chart in the mobile app and I also keep an eye on the 30 and 90 day charts like this one in the web browser app on my computer.

What matters most is the daily average over time.

So that’s what I do. I don’t really plan a whole lot. I just keep an awareness going with a focus on protein and vegetables, and then make room for carbs and fat as I go along. It all falls into place for me that way.